Shareholders call for Anglo American chief Cynthia Carroll's exit

Cynthia Carroll, chief executive of Anglo American, is under attack from
shareholders who have demanded an immediate change of management because
they have lost confidence in her strategy and leadership.

Anglo's shares are around 20pc lower than when Ms Carroll became chief executive in 2007 and 45pc lower than their peak in May 2008.Photo: David Rose

Several of the miner's biggest institutional investors have contacted Sir John Parker, the chairman of Anglo American, to ask him to start the search for a new chief executive.

The latest set of results was the "coup de grâce" after months of frustration, they said, and they are concerned that the company's poor performance has made it vulnerable to an opportunistic takeover.

One of Anglo's 10 biggest owners told The Daily Telegraph: "The company is suffering from bad execution, a poor strategy, and a crisis of confidence in the leadership. We haven't been happy for a while but the last set of results was the coup de grâce."

The shareholders said their complaints have been rebuffed by Sir John in recent weeks.

However, they were undeterred and, in a move reminiscent of the so-called Shareholder Spring, have contacted David Challen, the company's senior independent director, to demand that the chairman is overruled.

"We want to get the ball rolling and a fresh management as soon as possible. These things take a while and Anglo American is vulnerable – if Glencore got its act together Anglo American is a sitting duck."

A source close to the company said: "Anglo American is aware of the shareholder discontent and is working hard to address concerns. The company has had to implement changes and operate in an extremely tough environment but it is confident it can deliver."

Anglo's shares are around 20pc lower than when Ms Carroll became chief executive in 2007 and 45pc lower than their peak in May 2008.

The company's market capitalisation is now less than half that of Rio Tinto and a third of the value of BHP Billiton. Anglo fought off a takeover attempt by Xstrata in 2009, but investors fear its weak performance have made it vulnerable to another attack.

Ms Carroll's appointment was difficult from the start: she was the company's first female chief executive, as well as its first non-South African and first external boss. She had the support of investors as she has drawn-up and executed a radical overhaul of every unit within the company.

But her strategy, which has focused on four big mining projects in Chile and Brazil, has been hampered by legal challenges to licences, delays to projects and the downturn in global commodity prices. Unlike rivals such as Rio which has large copper assets, Anglo has underperformed.

Its large platinum business has slumped due to a collapse in demand from the car industry. Ms Carroll has backed the business, claiming it will revive when emerging markets move from construction to consumption. But investors have signalled that not only do they not want to wait any longer for Ms Carroll's results but they've lost confidence in the strategy altogether.